Tim Posgate's Canadian "jazz life" Blog

A Canadian perspective on parenting, jazz, hockey, banjo, composing, practising guitar, hockey, touring...how do they all relate? Tune in here!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

I quite enjoy making music videos. I have considered making some new ones for Banjo Hockey since I have a little time on my hands here in Mexico.

Yesterday, we had a power outage for the better part of the day here so it forced us to think outside the box a little. This week I bought banjoist Danny Barnes' new record Pizza Box on itunes and it has become a bit of a favourite around here. I decided we should make a silly video for the opening track; Caveman which features Dave Mathews on bg vocals.

I always thought it would be neat if someone made a video for one of my songs. To tell you truth; when you play fringe music like Danny or myself, any kind of attention given to your music is special and appreciated. You don't get the web-traffic or sales etc. that bigger artists like Pat Metheny or Bela Fleck would have. The great thing about their success is that they really are great artists and I am glad to see them in the limelight as often as possible. (as a matter of fact, I would barely exist if it weren't for both those guys!)

We had a blast making this silly little video. Julie and the kids have a similar wacky sense of humour and were game all the way for it. As a matter of fact it was them that came up with some of the better ideas for the video.

Here you, hope you laugh out loud. (or at least enjoy the song...the whole record is really good!)

Oh yah...the backstory on the spinner thing at the end of the video: Apparently Julie saw the creator of this crazy exercise gadget Twister Motion on the CBC hit entrepreneur show Dragons Den. When she saw it for five dollars at the local grocery store chain she just couldn't resist.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I was going to sit down and watch a few episodes of The Office as I have been doing over the last few nights but then I thought of you dear blog reader.

I have not been much of a blog-friend; this I realize. Why, you ask? I suppose it is partly because we have not had much internet convenience and when I got on it I was often doing some Facebook time and then catching up with a few business emails etc. (yes, that is a subtle request of my few friends not on Facebook to join)

Anyhow, it is all chugging along just fine. Recent realizations include having convinced myself (for real) that it is summer as well as waking up with a fairly empty mind. By this I mean that I have little to do, little to worry about and no deadlines to meet. Yes, that is pretty great. (now the dark complaining part....) But, I do realize that I miss some of the deadlines and things on my mind. For example, I used to wake up back in Toronto thinking about nothing but how soon I could get on the banjo. These days those types of thoughts are a bit clouded by my love for playing the fiddle. However, all you banjo fans out there will be happy to know that I am traveling with my Gold Tone (hand carved!) and play it a fair bit.

As I have mentioned on other social networking devices; the thing we really like about our spot here in Telchac Puerto is that we have all the conveniences of home. By this I really mean; Wifi and a nice couch and TV. (I have watched an NHL game every second day since we arrived!!)

It was pretty neat to drive for less than ten minutes to a very interesting Myan ruin today. (yes, there are pictures on my Facebook page) I am less than thrilled that our next destination is only about five doors down the beach from here but that is out of my control and really I have not much to complain about.

So...NOW I will go and watch Dwight, and Jim and Pam and .....I never worked in an office myself so I will just assume that this is a reasonable representation. (love the themesong!!)